Tommy McLain

Biography

15 March 1940, Jonesville, Louisiana, USA. McLain was a practitioner of a musical style briefly popular in that state during the 50s and 60s called swamp pop. He is best known for his 1966 hit Sweet Dreams, written by country singer Don Gibson and previously a hit for Patsy Cline. It peaked at number 15 in the US charts. McLain first came to notice as bass player for Clint West And The Boogie Kings, a popular Louisiana blue-eyed soul band. He recorded Sweet Dreams on his own, and news of its modest sales was brought to the attention of producer Floyd Soileau, who re-recorded the song for his Jin label. The subsequent national success forced the distribution of the disc onto the newly formed MSL Records, and it eventually sold a million copies. McLain released six further singles on Soileaus Jin Records label and Soileau later released two albums of his material but none charted. He was still performing in...